A rather remarkable story posted at GetReligion over the weekend claims that Fidel Castro, a man who comes close to qualifying for the title of ‘eternal president’ of Cuba, will make a return to the Catholic Church during Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the island nation in March. The report, which appeared in the center-left Italian daily La Repubblica:
quotes an unidentified high prelate in the Vatican who is working on the Pope’s Cuba trip: “Fidel is at the end of his strength. Nearly at the end of his life. His exhortations in the party paper Granma, are increasingly less frequent. We know that in this last period he has come closer to religion and God.”
Some Italian websites have even speculated as to when Fidel will make his confession and credo — setting the date as 27 March 2012 at 17:30 when the two ottantacinquenni, Pope Benedict XVI and Castro, will meet at the Palacio de la Revolución when the pope makes his official visit to the head of state, Raul Castro.
As GetReligion notes, few American sources have picked up on the story, likely because it’s still in the ‘rumor’ stage. Nevertheless, as the report notes, Castro’s once-hardline stance towards the Church has been softening in recent years, beginning with Pope John Paul II’s 1998 visit to the country, when Castro attended a public celebration of Mass.
But an event like this, if it does indeed occur, would represent such a poetic, almost-unbelievable Medieval occurrence that it is bound to seem, to many of us in the first world, like some sort of political ploy or cynical biographical touch. Yet even if political motives figure in Castro’s decision (which they no doubt do to some extent), that should not necessarily not take away from the enormity of the event. A political leader’s conversion, especially one whose entire governmental philosophy has at its core atheistic materialism, has to be scrutinized for the public effect it will have. In Castro’s case, it is difficult to conceive how the effect would be anything but an enormous positive for Cuba’s repressed Christian community.
First and foremost, of course, Castro’s reversion would be a stunning personal tale of sin and redemption, offering a powerful testament to the working of grace in the face of all obstacles. And, historically-speaking, it would only would it offer further confirmation of what the events of 1989 and 1991 told us: not only is communism dead, but, perhaps, ideology itself is crumbling in the face of a century of renewed religiosity. Here at the so-called ‘end of history,’ the one force which has outlasted manmade ideologies turns out to be one that had been most widely dismissed, reviled, and written off as impotent. Yet, like Henry IV coming in from the snows of Canossa, religion ultimately triumphed over the pride of a secular empire.
February 6th, 2012 | 11:55 am
[...] There are rumors. Matthew Cantirino at First Things observes: But an event like this, if it does indeed occur, would represent such a poetic, almost-unbelievable Medieval occurrence that it is bound to seem, to many of us in the first world, like some sort of political ploy or cynical biographical touch. Yet even if political motives figure in Castro’s decision (which they no doubt do to some extent), that should not necessarily not take away from the enormity of the event. A political leader’s conversion, especially one whose entire governmental philosophy has at its core atheistic materialism, has to be scrutinized for the public effect it will have. In Castro’s case, it is difficult to conceive how the effect would be anything but an enormous positive for Cuba’s repressed Christian community. [...]
February 6th, 2012 | 2:34 pm
My father, the late NY Atty. James B. Donovan, visited Cuba 14 times to win the release of the Bay of Pigs prisoners around the time of the missile crisis and during one trip read the prayer of St. Francis to him and he listened attentively.
February 6th, 2012 | 3:15 pm
According to my son who is as student at Ave Maria University, George W. Bush attended mass there just last Friday.
February 6th, 2012 | 3:46 pm
I would think Castro’s conversion would be more believable if it was done privately and announced after the fact instead of in such a public event as the Pope’s visit. This conversion would be spun as the Catholic Church coming to terms with the Castro “revolution”.
Too many Church members have been ambivalent about what has taken place in Cuba since 1959, almost absolving the government of its wrongdoings because of its “free” education and heath care programs (the benefits of which are greatly exaggerated).
February 6th, 2012 | 8:50 pm
Sigh, if only we still had Christopher Hitchens with us. As Castro is effectively still a dictator, the Catholic Church has no business accepting him as a convert unless it requires him to first free his political prisoners, end human rights violations and allow both freedom of expression and religion for all Cubans (and not just special freedms for the Catholic Church). Granted the younger members of Cuba’s Communist Party as well as his brother who holds day-to-day command may counteract such orders, he should still be required to make them. In short no less should be required of Castro than would be asked of any other convert who was, say, cohabitating or engaging in some other act forbiddin by Catholic teaching.
February 7th, 2012 | 12:23 pm
What utter nonsense! Castro has murdered thousands, forced into exile over a million and has presided over a tropical Gulag for the last 53 years. I attended a high school in Miami (Belen Jesuit) that was a transplant of the Havana school that Castro had attended and then closed down. My religion teacher, a Jesuit named Armando Llorente, had also been the young Fidel’s close friend and mentor. He recalled Fidel, not without affection, as one with talent to convince his listener that he believed as s/he did. In fact, Fr. Llorente compared Castro to the symbol of then notorious Symbionese Liberation Army–a multi-headed serpent-a face for any ocassion. So, he may make a show of piety to the pope. Better he release his political prisoners and apologize to the nation he destroyed at the altar of his own ego.
February 9th, 2012 | 12:47 pm
[...] who wasn’t? Nevertheless, on First Things, Matthew Cantirino, cautiously hopeful, writes that Castro’s reversion: “would only would it offer further confirmation of what the events [...]
February 15th, 2012 | 4:08 pm
[...] – but not with the usual “Castro is dead” stories. The latest rumors involve the ruthless dictator’s desire to be re-converted to Catholicism in the weeks leading up to Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Cuba. Apparently, his daughter Alina [...]
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